COVID-19 and Apollo: Meet Danielle

We wanted to share an Apollo staff story with you today. Danielle runs our payroll department and is classed as a key worker. Danielle has worked for Apollo for 10 years, and we asked her how she’s been finding the past few weeks:

‘I love my job but this has been the most difficult challenge we have faced.

On a personal level, juggling being in work and having three young children has been a challenge, but thankfully my husband is home and able to take the brunt of childcare.

It was so important to us to sort out furlough for our staff, and support our Agency staff during this unprecedented time, that we had to make the decision to stay in work.

While in the office, we are observing social distancing, and we are using copious amounts of hand gel and Dettol wipes. Staying safe is a huge priority for both myself and the company.

Processing paperwork and letters for the company has been a huge task, and we all breathed a huge sigh of relief when we sent out the payslips earlier this morning. The HMRC furlough claim was updated this week, and knowing how many staff would be supported by this measure has given me a huge sense of satisfaction.

I’d like to personally thank all of our Agency staff for their support during this time.

It is my mission to ensure all Apollo staff can talk to someone about their pay during this stressful time, and ensure they receive what they are entitled to.

My finance team have been absolutely incredible during this time of need. We have all pulled together, working relentlessly and for long hours, to make sure we do the best for all Apollo staff and I would like to thank them for all of their effort.

I’d like to finish with a few notes specifically for our Agency staff:

You will receive your pay for April on the normal pay date – I know how much of a relief this will be for all of our staff.

If you have still not completed your furlough documentation, please get in touch with us today or as soon as you possibly can. We have already sent text messages and emails to all staff who qualify, as well as posted the information on our website and social media channels so we hope all staff are aware of this scheme.

I would have loved to personally call each and every member of staff, however with limited staff in payroll and thousands of agency workers, it would simply have been an impossible task to do this and process payroll in time.

Finally, please stay well, stay safe, and know that we are here for each and every staff member if you need us.

…I have requested a month off to recover when the lock down ends… (I can dream!)’